State Supreme Court upholds Salas’ conviction

Demetrio Salas’ first-degree murder conviction in the 2005 shooting of a 10-year-old boy has been upheld by the state Supreme Court.

Salas, 24, was convicted by a Curry County jury in Oct. 2007 in the shooting death of Carlos Perez.

He was convicted of murder, attempting to commit a felony, shooting at a dwelling, tampering with evidence and bribery or intimidation of a witness.

Salas was sentenced to life in prison plus 10 years.

In his appeal, Salas claimed his conviction should be reversed because the court improperly granted a motion by the prosecution to not change the venue in the case, according to a press release from the attorney general’s office.

Salas also claimed the court improperly found that his defense violated the procedure for disqualifying jurors in his case.

“In its ruling the Court wrote: There was no error in this case and, therefore, Defendant received a fair trial. We reject Defendant’s claims and affirm his convictions,” the release said.

Demetrio Salas, identified as the shooter during the trial, and his two brothers, Edward and Orlando Salas, were convicted in the shooting.

Demetrio and three others stood outside Perez’ bedroom and fired nine shots through his window.

One of the bullets struck the fifth-grader in the head as he slept.

Police have said the men were trying to shoot Perez’ older brother Ruben Perez, who had an argument earlier in the day with Orlando Salas.

Orlando Salas, 16 at the time, was sentenced to the serve his sentence in the custody of the Children, Youth and Families Division with the possibility of release at age 21.

Edward Salas escaped from the Curry County jail Aug. 24, 2008, just before he was to be transported to the Department of Corrections to serve a life sentence.

He remains at large.

Noe Torres, also charged in the case, has eluded capture since the shooting and remains at large.